A Month's Worth of Rain in 48 Hours: Hundreds of South Koreans Stranded

[Anchor]

Torrential rain equivalent to a month's worth fell in Bangkok, Thailand, within just 48 hours, paralyzing the entire downtown area. Flooding also caused flight delays, leaving hundreds of South Korean travelers stranded at the airport.

Reporter Kim Young-a has the details.

[Reporter]

A bus drives through waves of rushing water.

People work together to push a stalled car out of the water.

Over a four-day period starting from the 24th local time, 330 mm of rain pounded the Thai capital of Bangkok, with over 300 mm pouring down in just two days.

That is nearly equal to September's total average rainfall.

Floodwaters rose to waist-height for adults in various parts of the city, submerging some 52,000 households and prompting 4,900 people to evacuate.

[Rachatanichipon Riput / Flood Victim (translated)]
I walked about 2 to 3 kilometers from my home. The area near my house is low-lying, and the water rose up to my son's neck.

All of Bangkok has been declared a disaster zone, and a temporary public holiday has been declared until tomorrow (September 29) for Bangkok and three neighboring metropolitan provinces.

Although the rain stopped after four days, the floodwaters are barely receding.

The record-breaking downpour far exceeded the city's drainage capacity, especially as canals and rivers were already swollen due to the monsoon season.

[Sarayut Maikaew / Flood Victim (translated)]
I am afraid that the flood will last a long time. I am worried we might run out of rice and face such a situation. All the food in the supermarkets has run out, and supplies seem to be running short now.

Ground transportation, including railways and buses, has been paralyzed in many areas.

Consequently, airline crew members repeatedly arrived late, disrupting flight operations.

Hundreds of South Korean tourists who visited Bangkok for the Chuseok holiday were also stranded at the airport for over 10 hours.

Meanwhile, in the Nong Prue area near Pattaya, a body believed to be a South Korean man who went missing after falling into a drainage ditch while walking on a flooded road was found three days after his disappearance.

Thai authorities stated they plan to verify the exact identity.

[Video Editing: Cho Moo-hwan]
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.